Good Friday

In case you needed something to help your meditation this Good Friday.  Hit play and close your eyes...

Thank you Danielle Rose for your music ministry!

7 Quick Takes 3-22-13

linking up with Jen from Conversion Diary...

1.  My goal of 6 posts in 6 days... done!  Sunday through today, Friday.  It was a little challenge to myself to get me back into blogging.  It worked.  I've started to think in blog posts which also means I'm grabbing my camera all day too.  I have some great posts in the works about some house projects.

2.  I love the idea of the Quick Takes but 7 seems long and Fridays just don't end up being days I sit in front of the computer and type a bunch.  Actually, I end up thinking I'll do it in the evening, which is just silly, cuz who wants to spend Friday night typing up a blog post?!  I'm living man!  I'm probably renting a movie or catching up on TV with the hubs... exciting stuff!  Tonight I have a Girl's Night though so I'm actually leaving the house :)

3. I've been doing so well with my diet and exercise since the beginning of the year and to make it to mid-March with any kind of consistency is super fantastic amazing for me.  Only, St. Pat's hit me hard and then sweet leftovers, etc.  Struggling but I'll find my way back to the wagon.  See why 7 takes is to many, I start talking about stuff like this that's only interesting to me!

4. I gotta make these faster, a picture!

This cracks me up.  We were trying on potential Easter clothes
and he ran away from me and started coloring.  Serious businessman at 2.5?!
And yes we had a little fall, thus the head wound :(

5. If you haven't read My Sisters the Saints, you should.  Just saying that I read it in 2 naptimes with lots of kleenex... just what I needed.  I can't recommend it enough.

6. Holy Week will be good for me this year, I need me some good Jesus time.

7. Speaking of Holy Week, I think I'll take a page from my friend Marie's playbook and not post next week.  I have one ready for tomorrow or Sunday but then I'll just enjoy the week and focus on the important stuff- faith and family :)

Later all!

Like Uncle, like Nephew

Ok, so when I put this original pic up on the Valentine's post I was thinking of this pic of my brother in his hawaiian duds.  Is it family resemblance or just similar expression/age? :)

And I'm throwing this one in there because my mom sent it as well and now that I have it I have to include it somehow.  Makes me think of all my pics of B and how I hope to look back at them and say "aww" when he's an amazing grown up, responsible all-around good guy like his uncle.

Toddler Eric coloring Easter eggs

Pierogi

I hope that's how it's spelled! :)  I felt so honored to join in the making of pierogi with Joe's mom, aunt and gma.  We spent a good portion of Monday morning working at it.  (I got to assemble them, a good detail task, just what I like!)  The recipe was passed down from Joe's gma's mother-in-law.  Pierogi is traditionally a Polish/Czech/Europeon dish.  (see here for more info)
I can't wait to fry them up!

filled dough

boiling

ready to freeze for a future delicious meal!

um, I thought it looked pretty...

Much thanks to my wonderful in-law family for sharing this tradition with me!!!!!!


...and I'm 4 for 4 on my blogging everyday til Friday goal!

Catching up

Life in February was pretty simple around here.  Doing things like... haircuts

and playing.

 Camera fun...

I think mommy's face is WAY scarier here

Sneezing on mommy's face- Ah ah ah.... Hilarious.

Oh well, kisses anyway

*wink*

St. Valentine's Day

Yup, reaching backward in time now that I'm back to blogging.  My goal is a post a day Sun through Friday.  So far I'm 2/2!

Start the day with some pink heart shaped pancakes

 

Making the Flourless Chocolate Cake courtesy of Dr. Weil 

Some chocolate to melt down... no big deal

   

Pshew... lots of work and clean up but...

 WORTH IT!!!  SO good!  It's so rich you actually NEED the fruit for the sweetness.

My flowers :)

I finally made this heart garland based on this tutorial.  Super simple, but I've thought of making it for a couple years now.  It's just different colored felt sewn together.  I might have to make something for more holidays in the future :) B was good to model for me in front of our mantel...

it is just me or does he look a whole lot like my bro Eric in this pic!?
Mom, can you scan a photo to me and I'll put them side by side?

Ahhhhh-nestly

It's been awhile in posting.  I'm sure my nana is wondering what has happened to me :)  Shout out nana!

Unlike usual I have a decent excuse this time for my lack of chatter updating my fam and friends.  My computer, may it RIP, is done.  I bought it when living in my first real apartment before getting married.  It's not that old, but it has many many issues that I've lived with for more than a little while.  Example, I have not had sound for, oh, months.  All those cute, interesting, entertaining or inspirational videos... silent for me.  So a little part of me is sad, but have seen it as an opportunity to practice my sharing skills.  Joe and I are now users on the one laptop in the house.  I know, sharing a computer is such a first world problem.  I should probably not mention that we have an iPad in the house as well, thus a large reason to further not even consider replacing my computer.  I can be a creature of habit (both good and bad) so it's just been slightly difficult to reorganize how I do things on the computer, especially things like importing pictures and then posting them on your blog.  Ok, now that all my readers are bored and happily clicking over to new pope articles... change of subject!

I'm going to post something about St. Pats before the day is officially over!! (that gives me 10 minutes)

Hmmm, finding cord to plug in camera... ok, finding pics downloaded to a folder on the computer I didn't know existed... making my selection from the few pics I took today, none of which included people... why, I don't know.

Yup, this is the best I can do right now:

gave up on the shamrock after awhile

check out that Royal Icing!  Em are you proud of your big sis?!

Oh yeah baby!

I was very excited to do these cookies.  I had seen this decorating technique here and wanted to give it a go.  I did, I count it as a success.  Now I must go to bed.

God love ya!

With 2 minutes to spare!  Publish this post!

Couldn't resist cutting it close for this:

I was washing dishes and wondering what he was up to behind me so happy...
explanation found in a back of a leg full of stickers.  And I DID remember to remove them before leaving the house this time... this time...

Friends with Blogs

Really appreciated this post on fasting by Meg over at her blog, Held by His Pierced Hands.  Meg and I were friends in college and lived in the same dorm.  It's been really fun to see friends finding wonderful ways to serve the word though the blogosphere.

Like- Christina at The Evangelista.  She was a fellow ECHO apprentice with me and theology major (i believe) so our paths crossed more than a few times at ND.  I always knew she was stylish and smart and now it's sharing it with the world.

I'm sure there's others, but those two are on my radar right now.

Christmas Continued

because blogger has issues downloading images...  someday I'll get the hang of this!

 A nativity scene in the hands of a 2 year old :)

Christmas movie watching

Salt dough ornament making

our ornaments baking.  I won't share the recipe we used because
2 of the 3 handprints have broken in half.

We felt so loved!

Reinbeers, a gift for my brother

Christmas Eve dinner in the afternoong before evening mass of red and green, okay pink and green pancakes.

St. Nick came and brought the 3 gifts

Christmas

It seems appropriate that I post about Christmas on the last day of the Christmas season (liturgically).

This year it seemed we were blessed with lots of celebrating.  Since Joe's brother's family traveled up over Thanksgiving rather than Christmas we had what Joe and I started to call "Thanksmas Week."  We celebrated so well (thanks to Joe's family) that I almost felt like Christmas was over and it was only Black Friday!

We stayed in town for the actual day of Christmas and were able to join Joe's family again for amazing food and festivities.  To sum up the Holidays we traveled to my parents house for a little over a week which just flew by, and a wedding with some of my extended family.

After everything it's been kinda nice to get back to same-o around here.  The decorations are down and B is stuck hanging out with just me day after day.

Here's some pics to sum up the good times:

Christmas PJs - check 

Why not have a house project during December?... more on this in a future post.

Christmas Card picture attempt number... who knows.  Gotta love a toddler.

Actual Christmas Card pic... it was the first one we took, not joking.

High Five

An absurdly warm December day, is it just me or is he getting older by the minute?!